Interactive map of Craiova

How to read Craiova on a map

Craiova resolves faster than most cities, because its geography is almost embarrassingly simple.

It is flat, and it is a grid around one boulevard. Calea Unirii runs through the middle, pedestrianised at its centre, with Piața Mihai Viteazul and the Administrative Palace at the heart of it. The Art Museum, Casa Băniei, the Oltenia Museum, the National Theatre and the Old Town lanes are all inside a fifteen-minute walk of it. There is no hill. There is no climb.

The green is south. Romanescu Park sits below the centre — ninety-six hectares in a valley, which is the only topography the city has. The Botanical Garden is closer in, west of the axis.

The two useful edges are east. The railway station is twenty-five minutes east in Piața Constantin Brâncuși, and the airport eight kilometres further out on Calea București. Both on the same line, which is why the tram runs that way.

The region, which is where the map earns its keep

Zoom out and the pattern is a fan rather than a ring, and the directions diverge hard.

North-west, into Gorj. Târgu Jiu at 110 km for the Brâncuși ensemble, Tismana at 131. Same road, one day.

North-east, into Vâlcea. Horezu at 113 km, the cave at Baia de Fier at 119, Rânca at 134. Also one day — but *not* the same day as Gorj. They are two hours apart on opposite sides of the compass, and the map is the fastest way to see why.

South and west, to the Danube. Segarcea at 29 km, Bechet at 68, Calafat at 89, Drobeta-Turnu Severin at 112.

Every one of those distances we measured rather than estimated — the method and the date are on the Oltenia page.

Distances, which are shorter than they look

Inside the city, almost everything is walkable and the map exaggerates. From the square to the Art Museum is two minutes; to Casa Băniei under ten; to the station twenty-five. The only leg worth a ride is Romanescu, and that is because you would rather spend the hour in the park than getting there.

What costs time is the road out, and the deciding factor is direction rather than kilometres. See getting around.

Using the layers

Switching layers off is what makes this map useful rather than decorative. A regional map with hundreds of pins tells you nothing; the same map showing only the cafés, or only the museums, answers an actual question.

The pattern that shows up fastest is how tightly the city concentrates. The restaurants, bars and cafés crowd into a few streets around Calea Unirii, while everything else on the map is a separate expedition into the region. That gap is the single most useful thing here: an evening in the centre and a day in Oltenia are two different outings, and worth planning as two.